The Tale of a King and his Brother - My Thought Process

Lord Vendrick and his brother, Lord Aldia, lead warriors to vainquish the Four Great Ones and found Drangleic over their graves. The curse eventually started affecting the people of Drangleic. While Vendrick started researching souls, thinking those were the solution, Aldia took another path and started researching the First Sin done by the Lord of Light many years ago.

This first part isn’t much of speculation since the game items give us all of this information. The item Aldia Hammer says Lord Aldia was the King’s elder brother and helped him found Drangleic, with Chancellor Wellager being the one that specifies Vendrick vainquished the Four Great Ones to do so. Emerald Herald mentions that Vendrick peered at the essence of the soul, so it’s safe to assume this is what he researched to end the curse. Aldia himself talks about the Lord of Light that banished Dark a long time ago, and since he is the Scholar of the First Sin, I assume he started researching the past to break the curse.

Aldia learned of the dragons and how they used to rule the land. Thinking the dragons needed to come back to break the curse, he started experimenting on citizens to uncover the secrets of life itself. Following his experiments, malformed beasts started roaming the halls of his manor. His last experiment on humans enabled him to create the Forlorn, beings who lost their corporeal form.

This bit has a little bit more speculation in it. The Cursed Bone Shield says Aldia tried to recreate a dragon, and since he knew about the First Sin, I figured he might’ve wanted to bring back the Age of Ancients to break the cycle. The part about experimenting on citizens is information given by the Spitfire Spear. As for the Forlorn, we know Aldia created them because of the Greatsword of the Forlorn and we know they were born from his research of the First Sin because of the Forlorn Set.

Meanwhile, Vendrick was visited by a very beautiful woman, Nashandra. She warned him of the threat that were the Giants and counseled him to cross the seas to defeat them and claim their powerful souls for his own. Interested at the idea of collecting powerful souls for his research, Vendrick went ahead with the plan. He made Nashandra his queen and they crossed the seas to wage war against the Giants. Vendrick brought back some Giants and gave some to his brother, Aldia, so he could help research their souls. He soon found how to create Golems with the power he found. To show his love for his queen, Vendrick had the Golems build a castle where she wanted. Knowing where the Throne of Want that she coveted was, she made Vendrick build the castle over it.

We know Vendrick was visited by Nashandra and went to battle the Giants from Chancellor Wellager telling us the story. We know he did this after Nashandra counseled him and to claim their powerful souls because of the Giant Warrior Club. According to the Cursed Bone Shield we know Aldia had Giants in his manor and since Vendrick is the one that brought them back, according to the Giant Lord Soul, he must be the one that gave them to Aldia. Chancellor Wellager is also the one to tell us Vendrick created Golems with the power from the Giants and had them build a castle for his Queen. The last part is a lot of speculation. I needed a way to explain why the Throne of Want was under the castle. Since the Emerald Herald said Nashandra coveted the First Flame, and the Throne of Want is basicaly a kiln (reference to the Kiln of the First Flame in DS1) I presumed that this is where the First Flame was. Since Nashandra wanted the First Flame, she must’ve had the castle built above it to be able to claim it when she could.

When the dust settled, Vendrick learned of the experiments his brother had been doing on his subjects while he was gone. Not at all agreeing with this method, Vendrick decided to condemn Aldia to his manor. With no more subjects to experiment on, Aldia decided to use the Giants his brother had given him. Thinking he could recreate a dragon with their powerful souls, he tried, but failed. In the process, he transformed into a giant charred head and that was the last the outside world heard of him.

The item Aldia Key tells us about Vendrick condemning his brother because of how he was trying to get rid of the curse. Since Aldia had Giants in his manor, I suppose he got condemned after the war. Since the Cursed Bone Shield says Aldia tried to recreate a dragon, but was not heard from again, and because Aldia says he tried to shed the yoke (metaphore for the illusion of humanity the curse has given) but failed, I presume he became the charred head we know after failing to create a dragon.

When Nashandra told Vendrick that with fire a true king could harness the curse, Vendrick tried to feed the Flame with small souls to try to stop the curse. Others around could see his countenance growing darker with each passing day. The Giants soon landed on the norther shores and set siege to the castle to claim back the invaluable prize he had stolen from them. Knowing he was running out of time, Vendrick left the war to go to the Throne of Want to use his great soul and hopefully stop the curse. He was followed by his queen and learned of her true nature. She was a fragment of Dark, craving souls. After learning of how he had founded his kingdom, she came to him to get him to defeat the Giants so she could claim their strenght as her own. But upon learning of his mission, she decided the First Flame and his Great Soul were far better prizes to covet.

Vendrick mentions a rumor about a true king being able to harness the curse with fire. Since Nashandra is the one seeking the First Flame, I presume she’s the one that told the rumor to Vendrick. I think Vendrick started off by trying to slowly feed the First Flame because the Giant Lord Soul says that his countenance could be seen to grow darker with each passing day. We know this means he was becoming Hollow and we know that someone gets closer to being Hollow the less souls he has. The Giant Lord Soul also mentions the Giants setting siege to the castle to claim back their invaluable prize. We know Vendrick fled as the battle was reaching it’s peak because of the Giant Stone Axe. It also says that the Queen’s face remained as still as her protrait. I figured she didn’t react because she knew where the King was going and since Chancellor Wellager says the Queen took him, I assume she followed Vendrick. Because the Thorned Greatsword says the King fled the castle fearing something wicked, and the Soul of the King says he held something dear, I assume Vendrick somehow learned of Nashandra’s true nature and of her plans to claim the First Flame and the Great Soul in Vendrick’s possession. We know Vendrick knew Nashandra was a piece of Dark because he says so himself. We also know Nashandra coveted the Giants’ strength in the begining because of the Ruler’s Sword and that she started coveting the First Flame and the Great Soul because of what the Emerald Herald says.

Fearing what she would do if she claimed the Great Soul and the First Flame, Vendrick quickly fled through the King’s Passage to shut himself away in the Undead Crypt. He knew the Looking Glass Knight, who stood in the King’s Passage challenging warriors that wanted to prove themselves, would prevent anybody from following him. Velstadt, being the loyal knight that he was, followed the King and placed himself at the entrence of Vendrick’s tomb to defend it. Over time, Vendrick, circling his crypt, always on the fence, slowly started being reduced to a mere shell of what he once was.

We know the King, fearing something, fled the castle because of the Thorned Greatsword, and we know he was protecting something because of the Ruler’s Sword. Since we find him in the Undead Crypt, and because the Key to King’s Passage says he fled through the King’s Passage, I assume he fled there to protect the Great Soul from Nashandra. I think he went specificaly to the Undead Crypt because it’s passed the King’s Passage. In the King’s Passage, there’s the Looking Glass Knight and the reason for his being there is explained in the Looking Glass Knigh Soul. It’s no secret why Velstadt is there. We know for sure he’s there because we have to fight him and the Soul of Velstadt explains his role. And lastly, we know Vendrick is a shell of what he once was because the Ruler’s Sword says so.

I hope everything was clear enough. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. I will do my best to answer them!

Also, if you have a theory of your own, no matter what it's about, I would be happy to read it!